Research Notes for the Visual Presentation of Subjects

Notes about classifying knowledge

I don't have the reference for the following quotes taken from the proceedings of a conference about the classification of knowledge.

to classify in a grand manner is to philosophize

Since a total classification has to include all the kinds of things from the most easily observable, to the only marginally perceptible ones, the classes which it establishes cannot have the same relation to the external world. They simply cannot be all equally objective.

When the philosophers aim at a general classification of knowledge, i.e. to present today's "natural" main structure of knowledge, it must be based on a consistent philosophic view concerning the relations between the fundamental categories. It is realized that a great obstacle to this stems from the inevitable specialization which takes place within all scientific disciplines, and makes it more and more difficult to separate and define classes which are mutually exclusive.

Research Notes

How to determine subjects and arrangement

Relating the subjects

Determine framework and categories
Look at subjects - determine categories - put subject in those categories
Minimize how much a person has to keep in conscious memory - make the information understandable in context
Here are the objects and here is what you can do with them
The task as the user sees it

Finding the subjects

The following is taken from an article about defining project development in terms of Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection Rules. There is apparently considerable available research on this topic.

Goals - user's goals
Operators - allowed actions
Methods - sequences of sub-goals and operators
Selection Rules - rules for selection of methods

Continuous, activities, verbs (connecting actions into narratives) Discrete, things, nouns (isolating things in space and time)

Sequence models

Physical models

Context models

Affinity diagrams

NTIS subject list

Main classes in TUS

Abstract basic fields
Force. Energy.
Matter. Material.
The world.
Life (physical life)
Individual. Intellectual culture.
Primary material civilization.
Society.
Peoples and nations

Visual Access to Information

What is the use for a visual presentation of subjects?

Finding information that is being looked for

Map

Surveying availability of information

Restaurant menu

T.V. program listing - shows what program is available where channel and when time.

The "time" element of a T.V. program listing could be thought of as the "cost" of an item or "cost of access" to an item. "Spend particular time to see T.V. program." Could be difficulty, thoroughness, authority, or usefulness rating.

This is a basic table presentation of information. At each location within the table, more than text can be used for information, and more than one means of adding information could be used. For example, icons, color, font attributes, and connecting lines could be used within the general T.V. program type listing.

Understanding educating, learning, seeing

Direction in information, could be something like - for more technical information, see option A; for a more general description, see option B; for related fields, see option C; for related print materials, see option D.

How would someone make use of a visual presentation of subjects?

Seeking a subject that is known
Seeking a general subject category that is known
Seeking to branch from or add to a known subject
Seeking to understand or learn about information related to a subject
Surveying the scope of knowledge (or information in a system)
Looking for something interesting
Seeking a subject that is significant
Personal interest or increasing knowledge of the subject

Information from the Statistical Abstract

One idea that I investigated was what are people involved in and pursuing? I thought that those concerns might prompt discovery of interesting and needed subject categories.

These research results shouldn't be taken as exact, since I combined information from more than one table.

Where people work

Goods-producing industries

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Mining
Construction
Manufacturing

Service-producing industries

Transportation, communications, and public utilities
Wholesale and retail trade
Finance, insurance, and real estate
Services
Government

How people spend their money

Housing-related
Food
Transportation
Taxes - estimated
Clothing
Health
Retirement JPF